Post navigation

The Night the Full Moon Crashed into My House or Something Like That

Once, my sister Michelle (and my children) and I lived in Orlando. My best friend Lora, who lives in Toronto, called and said she was going to a concert just outside of Boston a couple of days later, and she wanted us to join her.

Well, it was too late to get plane tickets at a decent price, so Michelle and I decided to drive. We left my kids at my Grandma’s house (which added two hours to our journey), then kept going from there. All told, we drove the twenty-one hours to Boston straight through and got there the morning of the concert. (We drank LOTS of caffeinated soda on the way, but with our singing, storytelling, and game-playing in the car, we usually don’t actually mind such long road trips!)

After the show, we partied with the band, didn’t get much sleep, and left the next day to drive back home. Now, with my Asperger’s Syndrome, it’s impossible for me to sleep in a car, so on long trips, I usually do most of the driving. Such was this trip. Michelle also stayed awake to help make sure I stayed focused, so she, too, got little to no sleep during our adventure. (Again, we drank lots of caffeine, sang, laughed, and played games to pass the time.)

We hit some bad weather, and our trip home took a little longer than we expected, so when we hit Orlando, we decided to just go home and pick up my children the next day. It was too late to call my Grandma, so I planned on calling her about getting the kids when I woke up. We got to our house at roughly 2:30 AM on Saturday morning, we each went to our respective bedrooms, and we proceeded to pass out. Neither of us set an alarm since we figured we’d be up in the early afternoon.

When I finally woke, the house was dark. It was 6:30 in the evening! I couldn’t believe I had slept sixteen hours! Furthermore, I couldn’t believe that Michelle was still asleep! I went to the kitchen and played the answering machine before I took a shower. There was a message from my brother Chris. He told me that his grandfather died.

So, I decided to call Chris and give him my condolences before the shower. He answered the phone on the third ring. “Hello?” He sounded as if he’d been crying. It was understandable. I tried to talk to him, but he hurried me off the phone and said he’d have to call me later. I thought it was a little rude, but then I dismissed it due to his loss and went about taking my shower.

When I got out of the bathroom, Michelle was still asleep. So, I turned on the television and my computer, then I started to catch up on my email. However, as I worked, a creepy feeling came over me. Instead of the light outside getting darker with the sunset, it started getting brighter! I suddenly had the unnatural fear that the full moon was coming closer to earth and would soon be crashing into my house!

The windows in my room were blacked out (because I like to sleep in a cave without even the light from my alarm clock to illuminate things), so admittedly, even in the middle of day, I could only see a thin line of sun pouring in through the edges of the window. But I started feeling chills as if it were the end of the world and everybody forgot to tell me.

So, I ran to Michelle’s room and woke her. It was nearly 8:00 by then. And after I told her all that had happened, she panicked, too, until we finally thought to look at the date and time on the computer. Yes, you probably already guessed it… It was not 6:30 PM on Saturday night when I woke up. It was 6:30 AM on Sunday morning!

I had slept twenty-eight hours in a row! (And my sister slept an hour and a half longer than that!)

No wonder Chris was so rude to me when I called! Even the times I’ve had mono, I’ve never slept that long!

So tell me: Have you ever feared you slept through the Apocalypse? Have you ever felt the planets came unaligned? Have you ever called someone at an inappropriate hour and then had them give you a rude greeting? Would you have driven from Florida to Massachusetts without stopping for the night? What’s the longest you’ve ever slept?

33 thoughts on “The Night the Full Moon Crashed into My House or Something Like That”

that is hilarious, rachel and yes, no wonder the reaction to your call ) i’ve made some early morning calls and late night too, quite by accident, and never with a good outcome. for some reason, the recipient just doesn’t get it )))

Oh what I’d give for six hours sleep in one go. Yours, Harry Insomniac, Tunbridge Wells. That aside young Rachel I’m concerned to learn that you, ‘partied with the band’ and got little sleep! There was me thinking you as pure as the driven snow. By the way Shirley has to sleep in the pitch black also – something I simply cannot do!

So, you’re afraid of the dark? See, Shirley has the right idea! Maybe if you’d let her make the room a cave, you’d find that you actually sleep better and can actually get 6 or 7 hours in a row. Maybe the cracks in your eyelids let the light in and your REM is interrupted. 🙂

Because I go to sleep instantly and demand a room with some light – not a fear thing oddly; just a preference – and Shirl takes an age to get to sleep regardless and needs pitch black we, ages ago decided to be like royalty and have our own bedrooms. It does work for us and is quite romantic in an odd sort of way!

Yeah, I actually like that idea, too. You get your own temperature control, your own white noise sound if you like it, you don’t have to hear anyone else breath or snore or worse, and don’t have to put up with them hogging the covers or touching you. LOL! And it is kind of romantic, too, when you get to make a date with your sweetie. 🙂

Haha! Boy oh boy. Yep. After reading your’s and Michelle’s crazy antics, I can completely see this happening to you. It put me in mind of another driving story of yours. Something about confusing road signs and a doughnut shop?
The longest I think I’ve ever slept is 12 hours straight, and that was after a particularly late night, probably after a wedding. My body automatically wakes me up no later than 7:00, even on my days off. Le sigh.

Wow, Rachel. I’ve slept off some long trips (and other things), but not like that. I was sure your story was going to end with the kicker that you had only slept eight hours, not tacking on an extra cycle of sun-and-moon-and-sun (I might have switched them). That was some kind of exhausted.

Wow–you were really exhausted!
I don’t think I ever done any of those things. I’m a boring person. 🙂 I have had people wake me with phone calls though–and I’ve not been happy. (However, I’m always before 6:30 AM, so that wouldn’t have been a problem.It’s the middle of the night calls that make me anxious.)

This post made me laugh, Rachel. I can just imagine you and your sister driving all that way – and then waking up totally confused about the day and the time. (grin) I don’t think I’ve ever slept that long in my life… perhaps 12 hours once.